Is it worth the upgrade? You bet!

You are a proud owner of an iPhone Classic (1.1.4). Cool! Version 2 of its firmware is out in the open as the 3G hit the market on July 11th, and you been wondering whether you should move to this next version. If you are a legit user this is a non-question. Of course you do. It's part of being a geek for modern gadgetry. New versions bring about new functionality and prettier interfaces. If the upgrade is free you do move in a heartbeat.

What about the unlocked, cracked and jailbroken devices though, that have been sold out there in the millions, from Nigeria and Ghana to India and Finland? It's true! They are out there in the millions. Even Apple admits this. When His Jobness publicly said that in the WWDC last June was like he passed a law to legitimize love-children.

This is the thing. What if you (try to) move to 2.0 and you screw up your classic? Happened, you know... It's a real dilemma, you know! If it works, fine... you are on cloud nine. But... you screw up and you are about to cut your wrists!

Myself, I am using an iPod Touch to do everything an iPhone does with the exception of the phone bit. Like Dave Mathews (with one t) said in the latest Cranky Geeks episode: that thing (the iPhone) is too nice for calling people... it's not made for that. I enjoy all the rest it does via hotspots. All I really need is an iPod Touch!

Ich bin gleich Dave Mathews on this. I use my iPod to do all I need. I upgraded to 2.0 (legit, mind you) and I gotta say, it's marvelous. Two reasons:

1. Push-pull and sync of mails, contacts, and calendars, all at the same time.
2. Third party apps. Too much to mention!

I wish I had GPS and LBS* on this pod as well... and maybe some cheap data transmission without hotspots but with 3G or Wimax or somethin'... no need to call people with... even so, without those extras, I am still quite happy with it. Only thing, it's still too expensive a hardware gadget as it is. In Holland and Germany you pay a euro for a bleedin' iPhone 16 Gig and a 2 year subscription slightly spicier than normal**, but what the heck? The iPhone itself will only cost you one 'symbolic' euro! On the other hand, you pay 350 euros for an iPod... Pathetic!

_____________________________________
*Location Based Services
** T-Mobile in Holland offers for a monthly fee of 45-50 euros and two years commitment, some 300 min on voice comms, 300 SMSs and free data transmission (3G) and the iPhone for 1 euro. Ain't that cool?!